katsumi woke with a start, heart pounding when she found that she was trapped in a tight grip. her nostrils were filled with the scent of coconut and she relaxed slightly, opening her eyes. she slowly looked up, eyes widening as she looked at furuya. she squeaked quietly, closing her eyes again and blushing darkly.
furuya's eyes peeled open slowly, as they usually did in the morning, and he woke with a small groan. he sat there for a few seconds before realizing that he wasn't alone in his bed, and that it wasn't even his bed. "hm." he stared at katsumi for a few seconds, blushing a dark red when she opened her eyes.
"o- oh.. hi." she smiled.
"hello." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes groggily.
"oh, crap!" the girl jerked up into a sitting position. "wh- what time is it?!" furuya turned, looking at her alarm clock.
"5:47." he mumbled, rolling onto his back and throwing his arm over his eyes. "i'll get going soon to get ready..." he peeked over at her, smiling coyly. "you look so cute with your bed head." katsumi rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a smile. "what? i'm just saying." he hummed.
"get the fuck out, satoru." she flicked his forehead.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
katsumi swung swiftly at the ball a second string player threw to her, smirking at the crack of the bat. "nice swing, miyuki-san!" he smiled. katsumi blushed a soft pink, nodding with a hum.
"a curve from the tallest height in japan... i can't really imagine it." jun huffed.
"we didn't even have any practice games against them." ryosuke smiled.
"you idiot!" kazuya scowled at eijun, who'd been sprinting around the field with his trusty tire. "i told you only light training today! listen to me!"
"hyahaha! what a troublesome guy!" kuramochi smiled at the two.
"regulars!" kataoka shouted. "everyone gather at the b grounds! we're doing batting practice against angled pitches!" katsumi perked up, following her teammates to the b grounds.
"uwaaaah~!" katsumi gaped at the taller than usual mound.
"eh? more sand on the mound?" kuramochi's eyes widened.
"imitating maki's bright by raising the mound, huh..." yuki furrowed his eyebrows.
"these guys made the suggestion last night..." kataoka gestured to the second string players. "apparently it took them all night to pile up the mound."
"guys... we also want to be useful to the team!" one of the boys smiled at the first string players. kataoka walked onto the mound, throwing a pitch and smirking at the loud 'smack' from the catcher's mitt.
"okay, who's first?" the coach asked.
"hey! you're pitching, coach?!" kuramochi jumped.
"we can't really have tanba pitch." the coach replied.
"i can hit seriously, then?" yuki asked, serious aura surrounding him.
"well, actually..." kataoka trailed off. "i'd rather have katsumi hit first." the girl tensed up, attempting to hide behind furuya. "don't hide, katsumi. i can still see you." she scowled as furuya side stepped. "you're the shortest on the team, whether this puts you at an advantage or a disadvantage will become clear soon enough." she nodded, pulling her gloves on and picking up a bat.
"hit it, katsumi!"
"miyuki-san~!"
"no need to hold back!"
'they're all behind me..' she smiled softly. 'but i'm behind them too. because i'm their wall.'
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
july 29th
5:30 a.m.
katsumi groaned quietly as her alarm went off, trying to pull herself out of bed. 'today... god not today...' she trudged over to her bathroom, quickly showering then brushing her wet hair. she glanced at the mirror, frowning. 'i really have lost a lot of weight...' she ran her fingers over her stomach, leaving her bathroom quickly and pulling on an oversized shirt and sweatpants before walking to the dining hall.
when she walked in there were only a few boys and she walked over to pick up a tray. "hey, katsumi!" she turned to the source of the voice, seeing tanba waving her over. she smiled at the third year, sitting down next to him and whispering 'itadakimasu' as he picked his bowl of rice up. "how've you been feeling since yesterday?"
good. she wrote on her notepad, yawning quietly.
tanba frowned slightly, 'reverting back to her notepad..? something must be up...'
"tanba..." chris sat across from the two. "how's your condition today?"
"not bad, i think..." the ace replied.
"you look fit." chris smiled. "and katsumi-chan, are you doing alright?" he sent a knowing smile to the girl that made tanba even more suspicious. she nodded quietly, slowly eating her rice. chris nodded and turned to his meal, not noticing tanba looking between the two.
"oi, miyuki." kuramochi said, mid-chew. "is sumi sumi okay?" he, kazuya, and kawakami looked over to the girl.
"she looks more... drawn in than usual." kawakami frowned slightly.
"she's okay, trust me." kazuya frowned slightly. "i'll talk to her after breakfast just to make sure." kawakami and kuramochi grunted quietly in surprise, looking at each other.
'around this time last year, kazuya started acting kinda strange... was always sneaking on his phone in class and would leave meals early to call someone...' kuramochi thought, glancing at katsumi. 'i wonder if it has something to do with sumi sumi.'
the boy's thoughts were interrupted by the door sliding open, and looked over to find a bald masuko. everyone gasped in shock and katsumi choked on her rice, tanba patting her back softly. kataoka and takashima walked in behind him, kataoka conversing with the woman before cutting himself off at the sight of masuko.
"masuko... what are you appealing to?" the players all attempted to hide their laughs with coughs.
"buahahaha! so mean coach!" kuramochi let out. "actually, what's up with your head, masuko?!"
"i forgot to use my usual attachment..."
"kyaha!" kuramochi smiled brightly. "it... it suits you, masuko-san. you look twice as intense now..." tears gathered in the boy's eyes from his laughter.
"nice isn't it, you made a fellow comrade!" ryosuke teased tanba from the next table over.
kataoka cleared his throat to cover up his laughter, "no use crying over spilt milk. but... don't make such stupid mistakes during the game!"
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
katsumi woke to jun's voice in her ear. "we're here, idiot!" she heard, before feeling the gentle chop of ryosuke on her head.
"wake up, katsumi-chan." if she had to pick between ryosuke and jun being her alarm clock, she would have to choose ry-
"hey!" she was suddenly picked up. "get up!" jun yelled, shaking her. she grumbled quietly, unmoving in his arms.
"jun-san, don't kill her!" she heard kuramochi yell. she groaned, clinging onto jun tiredly.
"don't sleep on me!" the center fielder growled, attempting to pry the girl off of him. she grumbled more, wrapping her arms and legs around him.
"kyahaha! maybe you shouldn't have woken her up!" kuramochi laughed as he walked off the bus.
"miyuki! help me!" jun scowled.
"ah... sorry, but she's stuck like that until she decides to wake up for herself." kazuya smirked, walking off the bus. jun groaned, grabbing his bag and katsumi's before walking off the bus.
"babysitting duty?" yuki asked as jun walked to stand next to him.
"shut it, tetsu." jun growled, wrapping his arms around the girl.
"be nice to sen- senpai." she mumbled.
"oi! wake up!" he scolded. katsumi shook her head, hugging him tighter.
"w- wait!" she squealed, letting go of jun. "it's hug time!" she held her arms out, staring at her teammates expectantly. kuramochi feigned a groan, but couldn't help the smile crawling on his face when katsumi launched herself at him. "hug time!" she yelled into his chest, letting go and looking for her next target.
"me! i want a hug!" eijun yelled loudly, earning a scowl from jun.
"seniors first!" he yelled as yuki hugged katsumi gently. "tetsu! me first!" katsumi giggled as yuki tightened his grip.
"it's my turn." he deadpanned.
"your turn is up!"
"and now it's my turn." ryosuke smiled, prying katsumi from yuki and hugging her. jun gaped at his fellow third years and katsumi giggled, letting go of ryosuke to hug the scowling center fielder. he huffed, hugging her lightly and smacking the back of her head. she whined loudly, punching the boy's stomach before turning to tanba.
"katsumi, no- agh!" katsumi threw herself at the pitcher, smiling as he let out a series of exasperated noises. she let go, leaving a blushing tanba in her wake as she turned to kazuya and kawakami. kazuya hugged her firmly and kawakami held her gently, blushing slightly.
"my turn!!" eijun yelled, jumping at the girl. she squeaked and nearly toppled over, wrapping her arms around eijun to stabilize herself. furuya frowned, grabbing the back of eijun's jersey and pulling him off of the girl. he hugged the girl tightly, deadpanning as a happy aura surrounded him. he frowned slightly when she let go to hug haruichi, giggling at his dark red face.
she skipped over to chris, holding her arms out. she shook his head with a smile, picking the girl up in a hug. "are we ready?" he asked the boys, still holding katsumi.
"yes!" they all nodded, walking into the stadium.
"ah, there they are!"
"tetsu~!"
"kataoka san!"
"miyuki!"
"look at that cheering... and they all got to hug that cute girl..." sensen's catcher smiled nervously, staring at the seidou team. maki stared at the team with a harsh gaze, before turning away.
the seidou team walked into the dugout, katsumi lying down on the bench and closing her eyes. "hey, katsumi." kazuya knelt down next to her. "wake up." he poked her cheek. she groaned, swatting his hand away. "furuya wants to talk to you." katsumi shot up into a ninety degree angle, eyes still droopy.
"hyahaha! idiot!" he punched her shoulder, pulling her up. "go bother furuya to stay awake." she grumbled in response, trudging over to the boy.
˚* ੈ✩‧₊
it was the third inning when sensen scored first, with two outs and a runner on first and second base. "i'll kill ya!" jun yelled, making the sensen runner on second base jump. tanba took a deep breath as the next batter came up, winding his arm back and sending a curveball flying towards kazuya's mitt. the batter flinched back, eyes wide.
"strike!"
"okay, okay! nice pitch, tanba!" kazuya threw the ball back to tanba. he winded his next pitch up, the ball in a straight trajectory to the batter before dropping to the dirt. the batter swung and kazuya dropped his mitt, catching the breaking ball with a smirk.
"strikeout!"
katsumi clapped happily as she jogged back, her breath hitching when her knee buckled harshly. she stumbled, eyes wide as she looked around. her eyes met ryosuke's, who frowned at her. she smiled nervously, jogging to the dugout. kataoka watched the small girl walk into the dugout, silently thinking to himself.
"katsumi." she looked up at the coach. "go to the bullpen. miyuki, go help her warm up." katsumi's eyes widened and she nodded, brushing past her teammates as she walked with kazuya to the bullpen.
"katsumi in the bullpen?" jun smiled lightly. "think she'll finally get a chance?"
"maybe." yuki smirked. katsumi was the second to last batter last inning, so she wouldn't be up to bat for a while.
"ah, katsumi-chan!" kawakami smiled at the girl as she approached.
"wha-?! katsumi?!" eijun gaped at the girl.
"eh?" kanemaru perked up. "katsumi is in the bullpen?!"
"what? really?" his friend, another second string player, hideaki wondered with a small smile.
"are we that desperate?" kanemaru scowled.
a few benches away, three volleyball players sat in anticipation. "ah! katsumi-chan is in the bullpen!" koushi exclaimed.
"what? really?!" daichi gasped.
"that's the pitcher's practice place right?" asahi smiled. "do you think she'll be pitching?"
"alright, sumi." kazuya punched his mitt a few times. "don't hold back." he hummed, holding his mitt up.
kawakami and eijun stopped their practice to watch the girl's first pitch. she took a deep breath, raising her arms. she slammed her leg down, releasing the ball from her fingertips and smirking as the ball sliced through the air and hit kazuya's mitt with a loud smack. she exhaled, smirking as her taupe eyes ablaze as kawakami and eijun let out a simultaneous 'ooooh~'.
"nice pitch." kazuya smirked.
"katsumi! that was so cool!" eijun's eyes grew starry.
"nice job, katsumi." kawakami clapped, smiling softly.
"katsumi!" the group in the bullpen perked up, eyes wide as chris walked over. "you're pitching next inning." katsumi's heart jumped into her throat. "don't hold back." he smiled at the girl in an attempt to ease her blossoming nerves.
"yay, katsumi!" eijun yelled, hugging the girl. she squealed, hugging him back as he spun her around. soon enough, sensen had gathered up three outs and seidou was back on defense.
"excuse me." kataoka raised his hand. "pitcher change." kawakami and eijun were standing in front of katsumi.
"you've got this!" eijun grinned.
"you're gonna do great, katsumi. knock 'em dead." kawakami smiled.
"just breathe! breathe!" eijun yelled. "but not too much!"
"number 1, tanba-kun switches out. pitcher miyuki-chan, subbing in." katsumi stepped out of the dugout, lips turning up into a smirk as tanba jogged back.
"you- you pitched good, senpai." she smiled up at him, holding her mitt out.
"so will you." he pat her shoulder as he passed her, dropping the ball in her mitt. "remember, i'm right behind you, play well!" he smiled at her and she returned it, running to join the infielders gathered at the mound. she smiled up at her upperclassmen, but it didn't have the usual softness to it. it had a more menacing look, her eyes burning with a dangerous look.
"ah, all warmed up, katsumi-chan?" ryosuke smiled.
"better be, or else no gummy bears for a month." kazuya smirked.
"kyahaha!" kuramochi kicked the girl' butt. "sumi sumi looks so determined!"
yuki smiled, "remember, we're all behind you." masuko's stomach growled in support.
"thank you, se- senpai." she nodded, smirking at the batter walking up.
'tch.. a girl pitcher?' he thought with a frown. 'isn't she the left fielder?!'
"yay, katsumi-chan!" koushi cheered loudly.
"go, katsumi!" haruno smiled from beside the managers and akina, who clapped loudly.
"play ball!"
━━━━━━ ꒰⌗'͈ ᵕ ॣ'͈⌗꒱৩ ━━━━━━
i'm changed the sensen game a bit to give katsumi some spotlight—because in the manga it skips from the seidou team getting off the bus to the fourth inning :p
⠀⠀ ˍˍ♡ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀
⊂⊂⠀ˊ ）⠀
⠀/⠀⠀|
⊂____ ⋂